By IANS,
Mumbai : Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama Monday interacted with the captains of the Indian corporate world at a closed door meeting here and discussed ways to enhance bilateral business relations.
According to official sources, the visiting dignitary discussed India-Japanese business relations and how they could be further strengthened in the future. The meeting was held at the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower Hotel.
Present at the meeting were Bajaj Auto Ltd Group chairman Rahul Bajaj, Managing Director and CEO of ICICI Bank Ltd Chanda Kochhar, Shipping Corporation of India Chairman and Managing Director Sabyasachi Hajara, Godrej & Boyce Chairman and Managing Director Jamshyd Godrej, Mukand Ltd Co-Chairman and Managing Director Rajesh V. Shah, Larsen & Toubro’s head A.M. Naik, UTI Ltd Chairman U.K. Sinha, Maruti-Suzuki Chairman S.C. Bhargava, President-designate of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) H.S. Bhartia and CII Director-General C. Banerji.
On Sunday evening, Maharashtra Governor S.C. Jamir had hosted dinner in honour of Hatoyama and his wife Miyuki at Raj Bhavan.
Speaking on the occasion, Hatoyama said Japan would explore the possibility of strengthening and deepening cooperation between Japanese and Maharashtra universities.
Referring to ancient ties, Hatoyama said that relations between Mumbai and Japan go back to 1893 when the two started trading in cotton.
“It is not enough to have a cooperation in trade and commerce along, it is equally important to have a mutual exchange in culture and artistic works,” the prime minister observed.
Responding to Hatoyama’s remarks, Jamir said India attaches very high importance to its relations with Japan and strengthening them is one of the highest priorities of the Indian government.
Jamir said Maharashtra has tremendous potential for Japanese investments in India, especially in the automobiles sector, besides several tourist destinations.
Noting the visiting prime minister’s observations on collaboration in the academic sector, Jamir said Maharashtra has 19 universities and the state would welcome cooperation in improving the quality of higher education.
Also present on the occasion were Tripura Governor D.Y. Patil, Minister for Protocol Suresh Shetty, Mumbai Mayor Shraddha Jadhav and other high-ranking officials.